Week 4 & 5 Updates:

The past few weeks in SAISA have been busy and we’ve seen our teams doing well both in conference and at national events.

On Weekend 4 light winds made for challenging conditions on the St. Johns River for South Points #3 where the home-team Jacksonville Fins earned a regatta win leading both divisions followed by the Eckerd Tritons and the USF Bulls. This regatta was also the first of the season for the University of North Florida Ospreys. It’s great to see new teams active in the conference. Light conditions also plagued North Points #3 on Lake Murray where the College of Charleston Cougars earned their second conference win followed by the host USC Gamecocks. An A-fleet win by the NC State Wolfpack helped to secure the final podium spot for the event.

Going into the weekend, Jacksonville leads the South and the College of Charleston leads the North. Full standings are available online (North | South). The conference fleet racing regular season draws to a close this coming weekend with South Points #4 at Eckerd College and North Points #4 at Georgia Tech.

On Saturday, September 29th, seven SAISA teams traveled to St. Petersburg to compete in the SAISA Match Race Conference Championships hosted by St Petersburg Yacht Club, the St Petersburg Sailing Center and University of South Florida in the always-sporty J/70 fleet. Following two close rounds of competition, the College of Charleston and Jacksonville University earned berths to the ICSA Match Racing National Championships to be held at Balboa YC later this year. This is a return to nationals for the Cougars, but will be the first appearance for the Fins at Nationals in program history. Congrats to both teams!

In inter-conference action, SAISA women’s teams traveled north to compete in the first round of ICSA Showcase Regattas. At the Jen Harris Women’s Regatta hosted by Navy, Charleston and Jacksonville carried the conference banner and Cougars Alie Toppa and Annabel Carrington ran away with the A-division win earning SAISA Sailors of the Week honors for their performance. At St. Mary’s Women’s Showcase event, USF and Eckerd College competed on behalf of the conference with the Bulls.

Charleston also traveled to New London to race at the 2018 Danmark Trophy Regatta. In Raleigh, SAISA and MAISA teams gathered for the 2018 SAISA-MAISA Women’s Regatta hosted by NC State where the USF Lady Bulls, USC Gamecocks, and the Duke Blue Devils secured a SAISA podium sweep.

On Weekend 5, co-ed teams began Showcase competition with Charleston and USF representing SAISA at the Showcase A Regatta hosted by MIT, and Jacksonville and Eckerd racing at the Harvard Showcase Regatta just a few clicks up the Charles River. Women’s inter-conference action continued on the Thames River at the Stu Nelson Regatta hosted by Connecticut College where the College of Charleston, USF, and Eckerd College faced fierce competition from NEISA’s top women’s sailors. Cougars Toppa and Carrington once again showed their mettle with an A-Division win earning their second consecutive selection as SAISA Sailors of the Week.

In keelboat racing, Vanderbilt, the College of Charleston, NC State and USF traveled to Larchmont, New York, to compete in the 2018 Storm Trysail Intercollegiate Offshore Regatta against nearly 50 collegiate squads across six classes. Taking line honors in the J/105 fleet, as well as the overall regatta win, the College of Charleston Cougars delivered a picket fence scoreboard with their helm William Comerford earning co-ed SAISA Sailor of the Week honors. Right behind the Cougars in the J/105 fleet, the Vanderbilt Commodores finished second in a very competitive class led by their team captain and SAISA Women’s Sailor of the Week Katie Lawless. In the J/109 fleet, NC State earned second place class honors with the strongest keelboat performance for this young but enthusiastic offshore program. SAISA keelboat teams return to competition this coming weekend at the McMillan Cup and the Navy Small Keelboat Invitational both hosted in Annapolis, Maryland.